For example, there are people who believe that it’s possible to establish a right relationship with God by doing (or not doing) certain things. Because of this belief, you’ll find that these people are often very zealous (or really enthusiastic) in doing certain things for religious reasons. These people will sometimes show their zeal by…
- abstaining from or participating in certain practices
- praying in a certain manner at specified times
- selling or giving away magazines or flowers or religious artifacts at various public places
Perhaps you’ve run into people like this. If so, then you know that such people often show a great enthusiasm for the things they believe they are doing for God.
Unfortunately while many people exhibit great zeal in doing things for God, it can often be a misdirected enthusiasm if it’s done without the knowledge of what God really wants. You see, if people just go off on their own and start doing things that they think will please God without the knowledge of what is acceptable to Him, then it’s possible that they may not be pleasing God at all.
The Bible phrases it like this…
So the question is, “What is this ‘righteousness of God’ and how are we supposed to submit to it?” In other words, what’s the proper way to approach God and know that we’ll be accepted? Well, here’s an illustration that might help…
Let’s say that there is a small child (perhaps a younger brother or sister) who is outside playing in the mud. Let’s also say that while this child has been outside, you decide that it’s time to mop the floor. So you get the mop and the bucket out of the closet and mop the floor so that’s it’s clean, shiny and looks great.
After a while, your little brother or sister comes across something interesting out in the backyard and decides to hurry inside to show you what they’ve found. With great enthusiasm the child opens the door and you suddenly see that this little kid is about to come inside and track mud all over your nice clean floor!
Now, what would you do in this situation? Would you say, “Hey, come on in- let’s see what you have.” No way! The first thing that you’d probably say is, “Stop- you can’t come in here like that! Take off those muddy shoes; take off that dirty jacket!”
Now saying, “Stop…” doesn’t mean that you’ve stopped loving your little brother or sister, does it? On the contrary, you want him or her to come into the house- you wouldn’t want to make the child to stay outside, would you? But here’s the thing- you can only accept the child if they take off their muddy shoes first. In other words, -no matter how enthusiastic the child may be- they must first approach you in a certain way if they want to be accepted.
Do you get the illustration? It’s very much the same thing with God. While people may have all kinds of enthusiasm about the things that they are doing for God, it may be for nothing if it’s not based on a knowledge of what God really wants. The bottom line is that we must first approach God in a certain way if we want our lives and works to be acceptable to Him.
1 Timothy 2:5 tells us this:
What does this mean? Well, it means that if we want to be accepted by God, we must approach Him in a certain manner- we must approach Him through the Mediator that He has appointed. Now, a “mediator” is someone who arbitrates, reconciles, and works out the differences between two parties. Jesus is our mediator because He Himself paid the penalty for our sin through His death. He took God’s necessary punishment for our sin and opened up the way through which we might successfully approach God and have a relationship with Him. As Jesus Himself said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, emphasis added).
Because of this relationship with God that Jesus has provided for us, we can now enthusiastically serve God and know that we will be accepted by Him. We can do things for God knowing that He will be pleased when we do well and graciously set us straight if we get off track. Because we’ve established our relationship the right way -through Christ- we can now approach God with total confidence.
So it’s good to be zealous for God but zeal along with knowledge, or a proper understanding of what God really desires of us, is what’s best. It’s good to be zealous, but be zealous for the right things. Get your relationship with God off to the right start by accepting Jesus as your mediator. Establish your relationship with God through Christ first and then count on God to direct you and your life in the ways that are pleasing to Him.